Instead of investigating the development of expertise as an individual process this study, being situated in the Vygotskian social constructivist understanding of learning, is interested in how the participants articulate their development of expertise in collaboration with peers. Many scholars indeed emphasise how expertise is embedded in VRFLRFXOWXUDODFWLRQ+DNNDUDLQHQSURSRVHVWKDWH[SHUWV¶NQRZOHGJHUHSUHVHQWV FXOWXUDOKLVWRULFDO HYROXWLRQ RI WKH ¿HOG DQG LV HPERGLHG LQ VRFLDO SUDFWLFHV RI H[SHUW
communities and networks. Renshaw agrees, that collaborative learning ”is critical to developing, deepening and transforming shared expertise and understanding”
(Renshaw, 2013, p. 237).
As discussed earlier, popular music and jazz vocal teachers in Nordic higher music education often work in an isolated environment (see 1.1), and indeed teacher isolation has been reported as a challenge within education (Burwell, Carey, & Bennett, 2017;
Cooper, 2013; Heider, 2005; Schlichte, Yssel, & Merbler, 2010). This isolation can be LGHQWL¿HG ERWK DV D SK\VLFDO DQG PHQWDO FRQGLWLRQ %XUZHOO HW DO IRU H[DPSOH discuss how the setting of one-to-one tuition as a physically isolated environment is not as accessible to research as a regular classroom in school. On the other hand, they FRQVLGHULWDFRQYHQLHQWHQYLURQPHQWIRUWHDFKHUVWR³FXOWLYDWH¿QHDXUDOGLVFULPLQDWLRQ and technical control” (p. 2). The isolation of many instrument teachers can be considered even greater because of lack of colleagues in the same domain. Collaboration is used in this study as means of overcoming teacher isolation.
In educational and organisational literature collaborative processes are considered essential means of creating knowledge and promoting creativity. According to Renshaw (2013) collaborative learning is a powerful means of liberating creativity and bridging social and cultural divides in the arts, education and the wider society. Also, Barrett (2014) states that “human cognition, and by extension human creativity, is distributed materially, socially and temporally, and rests in collective, collaborative practices” (p.
9). Collaboration has been described to reach creative outcomes beyond the capacity of an individual, and to overcome limitations possessed by them (John-Steiner, 2006;
Sawyer, 2008). Indeed, “new knowledge is co-constructed through dialogue, risk-taking and the shared exploration of ideas and meaning within the group” (Renshaw, 2013, p.
238). Accordingly, John-Steiner (2006) argues that “generative ideas emerge from joint WKLQNLQJIURPVLJQL¿FDQWFRQYHUVDWLRQVDQGIURPVXVWDLQHGVKDUHGVWUXJJOHVWRDFKLHYH new insights” (p. 3).
/LWHUDWXUHRIFROODERUDWLRQLGHQWL¿HVVHYHUDOFRQGLWLRQVXQGHUZKLFKFROODERUDWLRQFDQ be vibrant and successful. According to Renshaw (2013), in order for the collaborative process to act as “a catalyst for development, it is essential to create conditions that DUHEDVHGRQVKDUHGWUXVW´S'L̆HUHQWFRQWULEXWRUVEULQJWKHLUYDULHGSUR¿OHRI skills, knowledge and expertise to the collaborative process (Barrett, 2014), and the FROODERUDWLRQWKULYHVRQGLYHUVLW\RIWKHVHSUR¿OHV-RKQ6WHLQHU7KLVGLYHUVLW\
makes the group more creative because “the friction that results from multiple opinions drives the team to more original and more complex work” (Sawyer, 2008, p. 71), and also creates “opportunities for expansion” (John-Steiner, 2006, p. 189). In this study the
diversity of the participants within the profession has been one criterion in case selection (see 4.5).
Collaboration can also be described as complex, because it is charged both cognitively and emotionally (John-Steiner, 2006). Nurturing and supporting emotional connection among the participants requires a non-judgemental, trusting, emphatic and accepting FRQYHUVDWLRQDO VSDFH UHÀHFWLYH OLVWHQLQJ WR RWKHUV DQG UHFRJQL]LQJ DQG YDOXLQJ WKH cognitive and emotional dimensions of learning (Baker, Jensen, & Kolb, 2002). The capacity to work together requires an environment that is committed to such values bringing a measure of coherence to the work (Renshaw, 2013). John-Steiner points out, that a joint, passionate interest towards the aim of action is critical to success in collaboration (John-Steiner, 2006).
The concept ÀRZ, originally suggested by Csikszentmihalyi (1990), is emphasised in literature as an important factor in collaboration. In order for collaboration to be VXFFHVVIXO WKH G\QDPLFV FKHPLVWU\ DQG ÀRZ RI HQHUJ\ ZLWKLQ WKH JURXS PXVW EH LQ EDODQFH5HQVKDZ7KHGLYHUVLW\HQKDQFHVSHUIRUPDQFHRQO\ZKHQWKHJURXSÀRZ factors including some degree of shared knowledge are present. These factors include
³D FXOWXUH RI FORVH OLVWHQLQJ DQG RSHQ FRPPXQLFDWLRQ D IRFXV RQ ZHOOGH¿QHG JRDOV autonomy, fairness and equal participation” (Sawyer, 2008, p. 71). Renshaw (2013) links ÀRZ WR FRQYHUVDWLRQV E\ VWDWLQJ WKDW WKH ÀRZ RI D FRQYHUVDWLRQ KDV WR GUDZ RQ ERWK FRJQLWLYH DQG D̆HFWLYH VXSSRUW IURP ZLWKLQ WKH JURXS +H HPSKDVLVHV WKDW FHQWUDO WR collaborative conversation is the capacity to make connections.
*DXQWDQG:HVWHUOXQGVXJJHVWWKDWWKHLQFUHDVHRIUHVHDUFKRQFROODERUDWLRQ in education happens “hand in hand with the increasingly accepted understanding of learning as a social endeavor, and of teachers being facilitators and co-learners rather than doorkeepers of learning” (p. 1). Several scholars have indeed studied collaborative processes as means of professional development among teachers. Rasku-Puttonen, (WHOlSHOWR/HKWRQHQ1XPPLODDQG+lNNLQHQUHSRUWWKDWWHDFKHUV¶UHÀHFWLRQRQ their practices in collaboration might result in increased awareness of their own practices and that establishing discourse communities which empower teachers to improve their practices is of importance. According to Gaunt (2005) professional isolation, meaning ERWKRQHWRRQHWHDFKLQJSUDFWLFHVDQGFRPPXQLFDWLRQEHWZHHQVWD̆FUHDWHVDQHHG IRU ³GHYHORSPHQW VWUXFWXUHV WKDW DUH FROODERUDWLYH DQG LQYROYH VWD̆ VKDULQJ H[LVWLQJ experience as well as assimilating new ones” (p. 268). Tillema and Orland-Barak (2006) discuss how professionals, when engaging in collaborative processes, bring to these processes their background of perspectives and beliefs about the nature of professional knowledge and suggest that “activity and participation in collaborative inquiry may play DPRUHLQÀXHQWLDOUROHLQDWHDP¶VRXWFRPHHYDOXDWLRQWKDQWKHLUXQGHUO\LQJSURIHVVLRQDO
beliefs brought to the activity” (p. 592). A research of collaboration within a network of teachers enhanced among many outcomes sense of community and a realisation of the NH\UROHRIWKHQHWZRUNIDFLOLWDWRU3KDUR'DYLVRQ:DUU1XUVH\%UD\%HVZLFN:DSVWUD
& Jones, 2012). Gruenhagen (2009) has investigated collaborative processes as means of enhancing professional development of early childhood music educators. She suggests WKDW³WHDFKHUV¶SHUFHSWLRQVRIWKHLURZQLQGLYLGXDOJURZWKDQGKRZWKHLUSDUWLFLSDWLRQ in the conversations impacted that growth illustrate the importance of engaging with colleagues in collaborative work” (p. 125). The results of her inquiry thus suggest that
“what they learned through participating in these collaborative conversations could be applied or adapted to other contexts” (p. 148). On the other hand, Neil and Morgan (2003) suggest that even if school improvement literature abounds with recommendations for collegiality it must be noted that “collaboration is not always easy either to establish or maintain” (p. 54).
The existing educational structures in Nordic higher education of popular music DQG MD]] DUH QRW DEOH WR FUHDWH D FXOWXUH LQ ZKLFK VKDUHG FULWLFDO UHÀHFWLRQ ³LV OLNHO\
to encourage the process of making inter-connections, of cross-fertilization of ideas and practices, [and] of exploring ways of learning in order to promote creativity and innovation” (Renshaw, 2013, p. 238), because such processes cannot live in isolation or in silos of conventions. The project this study investigates addresses the isolation and lack of professional conversation by enhancing development of expertise of participating teachers through a collaborative process. On the other hand, within the project I did not adopt the most common approaches through which collaboration is discussed, such as Communities of Practice/DYH :HQJHU:HQJHUProfessional Learning Communities (Hord, 1997; DuFour, 2005; Roberts & Pruitt, 2003), Co-operative Inquiry (Heron, 1996), or Teacher Networks (Pharo et al., 2012). Instead, I adopted the idea of promoting conversation and knowledge creation through peer-mentoring, which is discussed in the next section.